Aircraft control mechanism



Feb. 25,1947. K. BUNYARD I AIRCRAFT CONTROL MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 14, 1944 m R m 3 i m m :W m WW Mr 5 M m v a N -a Q a l/ a MN I. ((IIIH mm y a o I L E am Feb. 25,1947.

K. L. BUNYARD AIRCRAFT CONTROL MECHANI SM Filed July 14, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR KEV/V577! L flan/men BY m ,zww... wit) a PM; ATTORNEYS similar manner to stub shaft t9, that is tosay, in bearing supports 24 and 24', which are in turn mounted at the opposite ends of the cross-bar I 2 at the top of T-shaped lever l3. It will be understood that cross-bar I2 is of tubular construction similar to the upright portion of lever I3.

Stub shafts 23 and 23' carry sprockets 25 and 25' and in order to transmit the rotation of control shafts l and 8' to the stub shaftle at the lower end of lever l3 and thence to operating shaft l1, an endless chain 26 is trained around sprockets 25 and 25', thence over an idler sprocket 21 (Fig. 2) disposed at the topof lever l3 ad-. I

jacent cross-bar I 2. This endless chain 26 passes downwardly over a second idler sprocket 28 which is arranged to turn freely on pivot shaft I4, thence around sprocket 20 on stub haft l9: at the lower end of lever l3, thence upwardly over idler sprocket 28 mounted similarly to idler sprocket 28, thence around idler sprocket 2] at the top of lever 13, and thence back to sprocket 25; It will be understood that the portions of;

chain 26 which are in engagement with idler sprockets 28 and 28' may be made flexible'in the directionat'right angles to the remainder of the chain in any suitable manner. For example, sec-; tions of chain (not shown) may be inserted with,

their links arranged at right angles to the rest of jthe chain links.

1 "By means of this transmission chainthe ro- ,tation of the control wheels" and 6 is trans-L mitted 'to operating shaft I! in any position'of:

lever l3, andthe rocking of; lever I 3' about its pivot [4 by pushinga control wheel farther away from't'he operator or pulling it closer to himdoes not affect the angular position to which shaft IT may have been turned.

' The takee'cif 'niechanism for both the rotational and longitudinal movements of shaft is shown in Fig. 1.

Whre' it is necessary, on. account of the con-' struction or layout of the cabin, shaft 'I"! may bejconnected to-thetake-olfpmechanism through aiuniversal joint Gland a supplemental shaft 36,'

' asishown in Fig. -1. In this event, shaft I! may be supported near its rear end' in a' collar'orsleeve 29 mounted at the upper, end of a sup: porting bracket ts in such a way as to permit shaft I"! toturn freely and also to pivot slightly as it is" moved longitudinally through the collar by the, rockingmo'vem'ent of lever l3. At the IQaLTJIO f'COBHI 29 a pivoted hanger 3|, constitut- 3 111g part of the take-off mechanism, is supported 1 by means of a pivot 32 at its upper end; on a1 stationary bracket' 33f Hanger'Si haspivotecl-to it at 34 a linl; mem- 1 her 35"which is'operatively connected with the 1 elevators (not shown) an'dthe actuation of this 5 link is brought about by the'longitudinal movement Of operating shafts I1 and 36, the latter shaft being connected to the lower end of hanger i 3 by means ofa universal joint 38 which isar-' ranged between the rear end'ofshaftsfianda 1 stub-shaft iifi." "Stub shaft 39' is mounted for re 1 tation in a suitable hearing at the lower endofhanger 3i and is -provided with a "chain sprocket i 49, "A'chain 4! passes around sprocket -40 and; 1 thence upwardly over a pair of idler'sprockets 42 which are so mounted on' hanger 31' that the pitch circles thereof. pass substantially through the centerof pivot 32. The twoends of chain f Mare operatively connected with the ailerons.-

i By means of this mechanism the rotation 'of ops cratingshaft ll, brought about by a turning movement of control wheels 5 and 6, turns the anism inasmuch as it is anatural movementtdy 5 panels 49 and 50 and by sloping panels 5| and sprocket and hence moves the operating chain 4|. The movement of this chain is not affected by the longitudinal swinging of hanger 3|.

The control mechanism described provides a veryepositive control both of the elevators and the ailerons. In addition, the T-shaped lever l3 with the three sprocket members at the ends of its three arms inter-connected by means of an endless chain carried entirely by the lever provides a'imechanism for actuatingthe operatin shaft I! which can readily be concealed in front of the instrument panel 4, by the panel itself land the sub-jacent panels 43, 44 and 45. These 7 three panels partially-surround the pivot I 4 and approximately the lower two-thirds of lever I3 V-and are. directly in front of the center seat 3. A

footboard 46 may be provided at the base of panel-43 for the occupant of the center seat 3. Shaft-ll is concealed by means of a tunnel housing 4'! which extends rearwardly from the lower edge of panel 4 3. Tunnelhousing 4'! projects upwardly from the floor 48 about the same dis-,

ti'ance, as the housin-gfor the propeller shaft amotorcar.

The legs of the pilot and co-pilot extend fo v wardly at the sides of panels44jand and. l alongside lever l3. The space directlyin front" of the pilot and co-pilot beneath the'ins'trumentl; panel 4 may be enclosed at the front by'vertic' The control shafts 'l and't'are pr'eferably ,arranged in an approximately horizontal position,

- andwhether or not so arranged the swingi gpf the, upper part of lever l3 about its pivot l4; 1 causes the control wheels 5 and 6 to lift-some:

what as they are pushed forward. This isgadesirable feature of the present control mech accompany the operation of the; elevators; While the preferred embodiment of thetinvenj tion has been described above, it will ,beunderstood that changes can be made in-the'arrangee;

ment of the control mechanism without departing;

from the spirit :of the: invention, the scope'bfs- V which is set forth in-the appended claims"- :Iclaim: y 1

1.:In anaircraft having an operatingposition; a control mechanism comprising an operating;

- shaft extending longitudinally of the aircraft;

said shaft being rotatable to control themove-'- ment of certain control elements and axially 'shiftableto control the movements 'offianother control element, and mechanism for actuating said shaft comprising'anupright Tashaped lever pivoted for uni-planar movement'in avertic'al longitudinal plane 'and carrying three-rotatablemembers, one disposed at'each extremity -of.said

T-shaped lever, a single endless chain carriedfbysaid lever for operatively connectingHsaid'lrotat-T able'members, the said: member atthebottomZo'f said lever being operatively' connected :with s'aidn; operating shaft, said: lever being pivoted forward" of the operating position of said aircraft-,-=-'dualcontrol wheels disposed at said'operating position,

control shafts for saidwheels extendingr forward from said position and having their. forwardends operatively connected respectively to: the uppers.

two :of said rotatable members, and :stationar guides for supporting saidfshaftstpy i 1 "11.;

2 In an aircraft having an operating. position, a controhmechanism comprising anoperatingi; shaft extending longitudinally of the; aircraft-1,. said shaft being rotatable to .controlzthermove-r; ments' l of; certain controlwelements V and t axiallyn:

:shiftabl'e to control the movements of another:

control element, and mechanism for actuating said shaft comprising an upright T-shaped lever pivoted for uni-planar movement in a vertical longitudinal plane and carrying three rotatable members, one disposed at each extremity of said T-shaped lever, a single endless chain carried by said lever for operatively connecting said r0- tatable members, the said member at the bottom REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,108,861 Kenyon Feb, 22, 1938 1,916,444 Sikorsky Q July 4, 1933 1,313,485 Cook July 7, 1931 1,375,199 Zimmermann Apr. 19, 1921 2,046,570 Malinowski July '7, 1936 1,720,661 Brimm, Jr July 16, 1929 1,820,906 Bowers Sept. 1, 1931 1,900,068 Mueller Mar. 7, 1933 2,339,955 Shelter Jan. 25, 1944 

